Snapshots
by LovelyMagickUnicorn
Summary: Just something I came up with while trying to break out of writer's block. Essentially just a few snapshots of Quinn and Rachel's lives after high school. Includes some alcohol, confessions, crying, firsts, a good amount of fluff, a hint of hurt, and topped off with a proposal. One-Shot, but might add other snapshots from different points in their lives; past and future.


It was a bit before freshman year ended when Quinn finally had the courage to ask Rachel out. It took a bit of alcohol and a lot of pestering from the brunette about why she never went out on dates, but she did it. The blonde kind of just blurted it out. The pair was having a girls' night, but since most of the time it was only the two of them, it could have easily been mistaken for a date. Especially with the way Rachel was grinding her ass into Quinn.

That had been something that had surprised Quinn during their first girls' night. The blonde had known that Rachel could dance, but _damn_ she could dance! Being out of Lima, being out of her fathers' house seemed to allow Rachel to let go of her inhibitions. And sure Quinn liked Rachel a lot, but seeing this side of her… well technically there was more feeling than seeing, but anyways to have the singer pressed up against her, to have her hands on her hips, and to feel Rachel's… anyway, Quinn liked this side of Rachel a lot too.

Later that night they went back to Rachel's dorm. They were alone since Rachel's roommate was on a date. Quinn decided to open up a bottle of wine; a graduation present she received from her mother the year before. There were some perks to having an alcoholic mother. "An early celebration," Quinn called it. Rachel was hesitant; they both had unpleasant memories related to alcohol, but she relented and took a glass or two, or more.

She ended up complimenting Quinn on how pretty she was for the umpteenth time, "You are so beautiful Quinn. So beautiful," the brunette slurred. "When was the last time you went out? Any guy… or girl would be luck to go on a date with you." The funny feeling that the ex-cheerleader got from that combined with the liquid courage rushing through her veins is what told her to go for it. Quinn got on her knees (at some point they ended up sitting on the floor) and gently cupped Rachel's cheek. The singer stiffened under her touch, which caused the blonde to hesitant if only for a second.

The next word came out of their own accord, "You're beautiful too." She leaned in, initially intending to plant a kiss on Rachel's lips, but instead she placed one on the tip of her nose. She pulled back, eyes closed. "Would you go out with me?" she asked before biting down on her lower lip. She opened her eyes fully expecting Rachel to tackle her to the ground, pressing their lips together so that they'd both see fireworks.

What she hadn't expected is exactly what happened; Rachel staring at her, mouth agape, opening and closing, trying to speak, but not finding the words. Apparently the singer was far more sober than she had appeared. She looked like she would have run out if it wasn't for the fact that she was in her own dorm, but before she could Quinn was already gone.

Quinn didn't remember how she got to her own dorm at Yale, but she did remember crying into her pillow until she fell asleep. The following morning when she looked into her mirror, she found her eyes to be very red and puffy. Tears started to spill again, but thankfully her roommate was a heavy sleeper and wouldn't be woken up by her sobbing.

There was knock on the door. Quinn considered ignoring it; she really didn't want anyone seeing her like this. But whoever it was, they were persistent. She cleaned herself up as best she could, but even then anyone could tell that she had been crying. The ex-cheerleader took one last moment to steady herself before opening the door. Outside was one Rachel Berry. "Hi," she greeted weakly. Quinn didn't respond, too shocked about find the tiny singer at her doorstep. Rachel understood why so she continued on, "I wanted to apologize for last night. You just kind of caught me off guard," she explained while seemingly trying to fight off her own tears. "But to answer your question, yes. I would love to go out with you."

Quinn scooped the smaller girl up and twirled her around, before placing her back and down and crashing their lips together. Their first kiss and it was as magical as Quinn had always dreamt it would be like. But the feeling was short lived when they heard someone call out, "Finally!" They pulled apart to turn to Emily, turning scarlet in the process. "Why don't you two get a room?" Emily was promptly tossed out. "Fucking Assholes!" She stalked away grumbling, "Didn't even let me get dressed."

They didn't have sex, at least not yet, but they sure took their time and when Emily finally got back in she was sure that they had. She eyed them, and their matching grins, with amusement. "So, how was she? Must be good," she commented, raking her eyes up and down Quinn's form. After that exchange Rachel became extra possessive with Quinn around Emily.

It didn't take long for the two to go steady. Quinn didn't want anyone but Rachel, and Rachel didn't want anyone but Quinn. It was difficult of course, not being able to physically see each other on a daily or (occasionally) even a weekly basis.

They made up for it though with Skyping, emails, phone calls, texts, and letters. Yes letters; because Quinn was old fashioned like that and she thought that a letter had more intimacy than an email or text.

On the days that they could see each other, they made good use of the time. Most of said time was spent being attached at the hip… or to be more specific at the lips. Quinn fondly remembered that one time they went on a triple date with Santana, Brittany, Kurt and Blaine.

She and Rachel had spent more time on each other than Santana and Brittany did, and that was saying something. The other two couples ended up leaving to have their own double date (or separate dates) without Rachel or Quinn even noticing, not that they minded. They both loved having their alone time.

Rachel's birthday during their senior year proved to one of the most magical nights of both of their lives. It was their first time together. They took things slow in that department. Neither of them had had any sex since their respective, regrettable first times and they didn't want to ruin anything.

They never really discussed anything, but both agreed that they'd wait 'until it felt right.' But it was Rachel's birthday and Quinn wanted to do something special; a walk through the park, a movie, some dancing, and ending with a romantic vegan dinner that Quinn had prepared. After dinner Quinn gave Rachel a charm for the charm bracelet she had gotten Rachel back during freshman year. The first charm had been a gold star and Quinn had given her a new one during special occasions.

She had another present in the form of a heart shaped, not star shaped, locket. Rachel loved it of course, but the night was far from over. She was told to wait a few minutes for Quinn to get ready. Rachel's heart fluttered at the request, and she waited anxiously Quinn to call her in.

When she did get into her room, Rachel found it to be dimly lit by a number of scented candles. Rose petals were scattered along the floor, romantic music was coming out from her iPod dock and Quinn was sitting at the edge of the bed in a nightgown, nervously chewing on her lower lip. Rachel's eyes scanned the scene before finally landing on her girlfriend. Quinn looked so beautiful, but vulnerable at the same time.

Rachel eased off her coat and tossed it aside. Slowly, she approached Quinn. With each step she removed article of clothing from her body, as Quinn licked her lips in anticipation. When she was right in front of Quinn she was clad in nothing but her underwear. She gently pushed Quinn to lie down and kissed her softly. "We don't have to." Kiss. "If you don't want to." Kiss. "We can just…" Kiss. "Cuddle." Kiss.

"I want to."

That night showed them what 'making-love' was meant to be like, and they both wished that they had waited for each other. No words were spoken after; everything that needed to be said had already been told through their actions. The loving pair just stared at each other while wrapped in each other's arms until they fell asleep.

After graduation, they moved in together in a nice little apartment in New York. Getting onto Broadway proved to be more difficult than either of them anticipated, but Rachel did a few roles in off-Broadway shows within a few weeks of being in their new apartment. Quinn on the other hand was trying to find her muse, while taking a job as a barista, which was very help for Rachel since she could get some much needed caffeine.

Life after college proved to be as difficult as life during college. It might actually have been worse; to be so close to each other yet to be too busy to spend any real time together. Rachel was always rehearsing for current roles or auditioning for sought out ones. Quinn did her best to help out while at the same time rediscovering her love of art, drawing in particular, and finding a new love in photography and writing.

It was a year and a half later when Rachel had her big break, scoring the role of Elphaba in a revival of one of her favorite musicals "Wicked" while Quinn was making her way to being a photojournalist. It was soon after that when Quinn decided that it was time.

They were still fairly young, she admitted, but they were far older and wiser than Rachel was during her first engagement. They had a steady income and had a good amount saved up. Their relationship was equally as steady; there wasn't a single moment of infidelity form either one of them. Not to say that they didn't have their ups and downs; they did. Nor did they not have temptations. Quinn still remembers, despite her best efforts, that one girl who consistently flirted with Rachel even after she learned that she was unavailable. It didn't help that at the time the two of them were having a fight over not being able to see each other enough, or that this girl happened to attend NYU. She felt hot tears build form in her eyes at the simple thought of losing Rachel, but those fears were instantly wiped away when she saw Rachel shove the other girl away. They fought less after that night.

And it was because of things like that that encouraged Quinn to propose. She got some assistance from Kurt to distract Rachel while she went out searching for the perfect ring. Quinn was a bit worried at first. There was a part of her that was sure that Kurt would spill the beans, seeing as he was Rachel's best friend, but then again he wasn't exactly one to ruin a proposal.

After Quinn found the perfect ring, one with a large but not too extravagant ring on it, she went straight home. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she clutched onto the small black box inside her coat pocket, and she wasn't even going to propose yet nor would Rachel be home anytime soon. She had asked Kurt to distract her for the whole day, which if anyone could distract Rachel for an entire day, that person would be Kurt.

Quinn used the time to plan the perfect proposal, anything less wouldn't be fitting for one Rachel Berry. She decided to contact the Berry men for some advice, and also because she had yet to ask for their consent. The ringing on the other end, a countdown, caused Quinn's anxiety to increase tenfold. She was about to hang up when a voice on the other end greeted, "Hello Quinn, it's nice to hear from you. How are things?"

"F-fine," she stuttered. "Absolutely fine Mr. Berry."

"Quinn, I've told you this before; call me Hiram."

"Yes, Mr. Ber- I mean Hiram." The man on the other end chuckled.

"So to what do I owe the pleasure of you calling?"

"I um," she hesitated. Quinn knew very well from the beginning that the Berry men were fully against Rachel's first engagement, even if some people were oblivious to that fact. They only were going to go through with it because they didn't have the heart to ruin their baby girl's special day. The blonde didn't want this to be a repeat performance.

"Did you need to some help sweet-talking my daughter?" he joked.

"Um, no. Not exactly. I just…" Her breathing grew labored at the prospect of Rachel's fathers disapproving of her decision. Hiram could obviously hear from his side since he soon asked if she was okay. Quinn nodded until she remembered that he couldn't see her, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just... I know this isn't the best way to do this, but I want to marry your daughter." She waited what seemed like a lifetime until she heard a response.

"Are you sure about this?" Quinn blinked; she hadn't expected a question as an answer.

"Yes, sir," she said, nodding. "I love your daughter, and I can't image sharing my life with anyone else but her. And I'm not planning on getting married anytime soon," she assured. "I just feel that we're ready to get engaged, and I want to so much." She waited again, silently praying. On the other end she heard Hiram let out a deep breath.

"I'll have to talk with Leroy about this," he said. "He's out right now." Quinn nodded again, not having the voice to speak anymore. "But just so you know, you have my blessing." He bid farewell and hung up, leaving Quinn grinning from ear to ear. The following day Quinn received a call to confirm that Leroy also approved of her taking Rachel's hand in marriage. Quinn was elated, but at the same time terrified. This had just made everything all so much more real. But she wouldn't back down now. She once again started planning.

The following week Rachel had a performance. Quinn sat in the front row, as was usual with a bouquet of gardenias. It took a while for Rachel to the information about the corsage to slip, but since she did, gardenias have been their flower of choice. She had done this for Rachel's shows occasionally, but this night was different.

When the show came to a close Quinn went backstage and straight for her girlfriend. She handed her the flowers and gave her a small peck on the lips. A bright smile broke onto Rachel's face and she leaned into the bouquet, closing her eyes while taking in the wonderful aroma. It was only when she opened them that she noticed the small black box hidden between the white flowers. Her eyes went wide, as she lifted it out while setting the flowers down, and then her eyes shifted to her girlfriend who was now down on one knee in front of her.

"Quinn?" she breathed out.

"Rachel, I love you. I have loved you since the day I first saw you and I will love you no matter what for the rest of my life," she started, her voice slightly shaky. "You keep me grounded, but you've also taught me how to fly." Quinn could feel tears forming in her eyes but continued on. "I always believed in soulmates, but I never thought I'd actually meet mine. Luckily I was wrong and found you." A single tear fell from Rachel's eye, soon followed by a few more. "And I'm far luckier than I dreamt up a soulmate as beautiful and perfect as you." She let her own tears fall. "I want us to share the rest of our lives together. I want us to start a family. And right now I'm taking the first step to that." She took the box from Rachel's tiny trembling hand, presenting the ring to her while asking, "Rachel Berry will you marry me?"

"Yes! Of course I will, yes!" She extended her hand and Quinn gentle placed the ring onto her finger. Rachel took a moment to admire it as Quinn rose to her feet before wrapping her arms around her girlfriend, now fiancée, and kissing her passionately. They pulled apart before long. "I love you Quinn. I love you so so much."


End file.
